Global Financial Crisis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Global Financial Crisis - Essay Example From the early 90’s, the United States has been experiencing economic expansion of the highest magnitude. During this period, it’s real Gross Domestic Product increased by 32.9 percent or 3.6% annual growth rate. The major reason for this expansion is consumption. Consumption is responsible for 75% of GDP which has been on the rise at an annual rate of 3.8 percent. What fuelled this increase in consumption is the consumer credit spending. Since the consumer disposable income increased at a slower rate than consumption, people began to spend on credit. The housing bubble is another key reason for growth in the United States economy. The housing growth did not only lead to booming in the construction industry. The machinery sector increased also. Employment in the real estate was high and mortgage industry ballooned. However during the 2006-2009 financial crisis, mortgage and the real estate credit decreased by 53 and 44 percent, respectively. This led to another sharp de cline in the United States economy. The military budget is another factor in the American economy. The military budget has been on the rise particularly after September 11. The military represents a direct demand to the United States government. An increase in its spending increases production levels and creates employment to many people. When these employees spend their income, it further increases jobs and income to other people. However, spending on the military does not mean it necessary stimulate the economy. Military spending was able to stimulate the economy during the 1950s when urge for weapons was high than now. The economy needed such stimulation; with the growth of credit over the last several years, United States economic problems lie within the area of innovation and investment (David 15). Military spending has also affected the supply side of the Americans economy. Military spending reduces the ability of the United States economy to develop new goods and renovate its production technology. Countries that have an increased level of military spending tend to have low investment rates. Bankruptcy is another factor that plays a vital role in the United States economy. Bankruptcy benefits the economy since giving debtors ways of discharging their debts should encourage more borrowing and spending of funds. Consumer bankruptcy has affected the United States economy negatively. When there is a high rate of consumer bankruptcy, consumer’s confidence declines, and their spending reduces. This increases the consumer’s savings rate. Increased consumer savings reduce corporate investments, which lead to job cuts. Higher unemployment rates lead to an economic downturn. The economy of the United States has periodically been witnessing numerous downfalls particularly after September 11. There has been extensive financial crisis and housing disaster, but all in all the economy has managed to hold on as the World super power. It is not as secret t hat the people charged with ensuring that the financial system is stable in the United States helped cause the 2007-10 crises. The Financial Guardians in the United States and Europe established policies that encouraged adverse credit allocation, and a lot of risk taking by their financial institutions. They still stood by the same policies even after learning of the impending financial

Mobile Computing and Social Networking Essay Example for Free

Mobile Computing and Social Networking Essay 1Introduction Tiny, portable gadgets, such as pocket digital assistants (PDAs) and mobile phones have been in the recent years pushed on the mark. Mobile or ubiquitous computing and handy gadgets are changing the relations between computers and humans.there is an introduction of a new communication approach based on context. This approach enables people to interact with computers, objects and environments seamlessly. Mobile computing devices have enabled composite cooperation and communication patterns that were not dreamt of in the past years. They possess vital features in portability, ability to share information using communication networks; wireless, and synchronizing the information with other standardized gadgets. There have drastic changes in the technological landscape in the past years led by the emergence of mobile computing devices focusing on consumer preferences. The rapid increase in use of mobile computing gadgets is nowadays noticeable in the medical or healthcare industry. The healthcare industry has never been a frontrunner in terms of Information Technology and computing in relation to caring for patients and clinical trials. Health care providers are adopting new and innovative ways using mobile computing platforms to support patient care. Thus through a constant drive to find a new method of improving the quality of patients’ lives, the health care industry has benefited. This has seen the enormous growth of wearable portable systems, monitoring the patient’s conditions for vital signs. This paper focuses in assessing the concept of monitoring patients using mobile computing gadgets transmitting using wireless technology. It also assesses the use of social networks to group support for patients with similar medical conditions. 2Monitoring patients using wearable, mobile gadgets 2.1concepts Mobile health monitoring systems have come handy in helping people to engage closely in their own health care. This technology involves the integration of a biosensor which monitors vital signs (such as heart rate, BP, temperature and other health-related information), environmental sensors, and a location sensor into a wearable wireless network. This allows an enduring, unobtrusive monitoring with immediate feedback to the patient or physician about the current status and a real time update of the user’s health data. The data makes up the EPR (electronic patient record), which allows the health status data of the patient to be accessed using many devices and heterogeneous networks. Mobile computing application in medicine allows access to EPR for consolidated information on patients from any location within the network. This advancement has brought about many benefits to the medical industry. However, it does not make a substitute for the direct eye to eye meeting between patient and the doctor due to the various setbacks it suffers. 2.2Advantages of using mobile computing to monitor patients Monitoring patients using wearable, mobile devices has a lot of merits as compared to the traditional inpatient visit by the patient. These include: 2.2.1Patient participation in their own health care This technology allows the healthcare providers to be close and interact more with patients. This grows the sense of ownership amongst patients and their relatives as they tend to take in more information and interact with it. This interaction provides the clinician an improved access to information thus leading to a better diagnosis. The resultant is a sense of ownership in the patients leading to high rates of diagnosis acceptance and following of post-diagnosis orders. 2.2.2Easier and quicker visibility of the patient’s condition The physician does not have to wait for laboratory results to be sent or telemetry to be done. The mobile computing devices allows for real time viewing of information. 2.2.3Increase in efficiency of healthcare The provider does not have to move from machine to machine, one room to the other seeking the patient’s data. Updated data can be accessed from the electronic patient records in real time by the wearable monitoring devices. This leads to swift and accurate decision making concerning patients issues since it relies on accurate data. 2.2.4Cost The development of these mobile devices can be realized within modest charges compared to specialty systems. The maintenance of these small but essential devices is also low compared to the specialty systems. This pulls down the cost of running mobile-computing monitoring devices. 2.3Disadvantages of using mobile computing to monitor patients Monitoring patients using mobile computing powered devices also suffer some setbacks. 2.3.1Health hazard The issue of radiations still is unclear posing uncertainties on its application. The health care industry players have not agreed on the standards of these devices. 2.3.2Technical stress Its application may bring more technical emphasis which can result in a stress issue to patients and medics (Brahnam Jain, 2010). The patients’ data has to be stored securely. This is often a challenge because the users of these devices may be unequipped with the necessary level of expertise; to perform the encryption tasks. However, security is a point of concern in the application of these gadgets. An effective protocol or security measure should be used to ensure heavy security to the data accessed through them. This entails an implementation of strong access protocols at both the gadget and the network levels. Appropriate encryption measures should also be implemented to safeguard against unauthorized access of the information stored in the device, in case it lands in the wrong hands due to theft. However, these devices should be designed only to allow viewing of sensitive data locally on the mobile computing device rather than storing it. 2.4Use of social network to group support for patients Online health social networking sites give patients the privilege to obtain and disclose information on some health condition without disclosing their identities (Turban Volonino, 2011). Support groups help patients to cope with the various conditions by providing social support and network of information to its members. Patients educate each other on the conditions and treatments using the social network. This often impacts the old doctor-patient relationship, and could develop a foundation for a market driven system where clients can make choices. Health oriented social networks are extremely beneficial to patients they provide an instrumental support by providing stress relieving services, financial assistance, advice and willingness to help. It offers nurturing support aiming at comforting stressed patients without necessarily solving the problems leading to the stress by making the patient feel cared. 3Conclusion The application of technology in the health industry has come a long way. Its adoption in the monitoring of patients has been extremely beneficial to both patients and doctors. However, there still concerns over the security of the many sensitive data passed on from one point to the other by these mobile devices. Improved security measures should be enacted, to ensure that the patient’s data is safe from external access since it may incriminate the privacy right of the patient. Health care oriented social network has been much of a platform where patients share their experiences. The healthcare providers get to acquaint themselves of the patients’ experiences and also market their services by engaging directly with the patients. * 4.0References Brahnam, S., Jain, L. C. (2010). Advanced Computational Intelligence Paradigms in Healthcare 5: Intelligent Decision Support Systems. Berlin, Germany: Springer. Shahriyar, R., Bari, F., Kundu, G., Ahamed, S., Akbar, M.(2009). Intelligent Mobile Health Monitoring System (IMHMS). In P.kostkova (Eds..), Electronic Healthcare: Second International ICST Conference, EHealth 2009 Istanbul, Turkey, September 2009 Revised Selected Papers (pp. 5-12). Berlin, Germany: Springer. Tan, J., (2005). EHealth Care Information Systems: An Introduction for Students and Professionals. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley Sons. Turban, E., Volonino, L. (2011). Information Technology for management: Improving strategic and operational performance (8th ed.). Hoboken NJ: John Wiley Sons.

The difference between management and leadership

The difference between management and leadership Management and leadership are critical elements in the ongoing success of any business. Yet, there has been, and continues to be, a long standing debate over whether good management or good leadership is more important and holds more value to a companys success. Each of these topics have been both written about, and discussed, heavily over the years and drawn countless opinions from both sides about each ones importance Some believe that management holds greater importance because of its reliability and stability, and tends to deal the daily results and performance while others believe that leadership is most critical because it is believed to deal with higher thinking and creativity relying on an individuals character traits, does not appear to be teachable, seems to be inherent in some people and not others, and is responsible for setting direction and laying out the pathway that a business will follow. In the opinion of this writer trying to set one above the other is a flawed approach and that those who hold these ideas have yet to come to the realization that management and leadership are two sides of the same coin. Without one the other is incomplete, and it is a balance of each of these in varying measures at varying times that will yield success. Both good management and good leadership represent very different traits within people and it is a combination of these traits that is necessary for both individual and company performance. This becomes more evident after carefully examining the arguments for both management and leadership, the different traits and characteristics that managerial and leadership ability possess, and how each contribute to positive outcomes. When these traits are put in the context of a crisis situation it becomes apparent how vital both are to the result. Management has long been considered by many organizations to be the most important aspect of an organization. This is why many organizations find that defined and structured management practices are more useful than leadership because it focuses on the structure of an organization, where as leadership is more focused on social interactions and innovation (the so-called big picture), whose outcomes many times are unknown, thus making them a little instable (Kearsley, 2005). For this reason many managers use innovation not to change how things are done, but to improve the ability of its people and its resources control to improve its efficiency (Elliott, 2002). This becomes useful in the day to day activities placing leadership as a secondary contributor. Still, in a changing society and marketplace where organizations are forced to constantly evolve effective leadership that can develop and communicate a vision becomes a necessity to not only compete, but excel both today and in the f uture. Managements focus has mainly been in administrative duties such as the what and when, where as leadership is more imaginative and emotional, which focuses on the why and how (Kearsley, 2005). The why and how the questions are the ones needed to find innovated new ways of doing things, which will assist them in developing and keeping a competitive advantage. A challenge because even though the outcomes of the innovations of leadership can at times be questionable they are essential to an organization especially when the work environment becomes unstable and innovation can assist an organization adapt. What accentuates the need for leadership even more than maintaining a competitive edge is the fact that it in todays society the hierarchical aspect of organizations have become more intricate and ones superior (manager) has become less defined (Rogers Tierney, 2004). As such, leadership becomes important in the completion of tasks especially with the heavy emphasis placed upon a groups successful performance within an organization today and a leaders ability to form a group into a cohesive unit. Before this hierarchical change there was a specific top down flow to an organization so that only those at the top needed leadership abilities because everyone else followed what they said, so management was more important to the organization. Now that we compete globally this dynamic has changed and control cannot be achieved without having a more flexible approach to management and leadership as a result of the expanding environment they have come to be in. In this way leadership has dev eloped into a more significant and critical aspect relative to that of management because leaders dont control; they influence (Rogers Tierney, 2004, p. 79). This goes beyond the scope of good management. Management is supposed to maintain a set structure within an organization through the use of control. If control has become less attainable, and stifles the flexibility of a company to effectively adapt and innovate then one now needs to be able to exact influence rather than control an organization and must adapt to continue to be a viable enterprise. This represents one reason as to the necessity for both management and leadership in cooperation to yield success. Management sets what must be done and leadership helps them accomplish that despite a lack of direct control. This effectively debunks the argument in favor of management over leadership. But, what about the arguments supporting the value of leadership and its role to the organization? Many hold the idea that leadership is more important to an organization. One argument in favor of this idea is that education. They believe that leadership is inherent and cant be taught. Leadership has been likened to that of a pathfinder. Being innovators they are searching for something never before done and as such they have nothing from which to learn from (Hodgson, 1987, p. 13). Innovation is creativity, you arent taught it you just know it. In a sense this is true, most scholars readily agree that leadership is based upon experience, but many fail to realize that experiences can be taught. When looked at in the form of learning a sport a person can study the rules of a sport and it will help their understanding of the game, but to be truly good at something it is necessary to go out and play (Doh, 2003). So, the key to teaching leadership is to put people in situations where they are forced to lead. But, a person must understand that teaching can only go so far and just becaus e you have been taught something doesnt mean you will be a master at it, nor does it mean that youll successfully administer leadership (Doh, 2003). When dealing with people a leader faces diverse challenges in personality and capability and their ability to be flexible and provide both the direction and opportunity for those under their influence to be successful and feel they are contributing is critical to the success of the endeavor. An example would be that many people have been taught how to play chess, but even though they know how to play doesnt mean they are going to masters (Doh, 2003). Another argument in favor of leadership is that it can be seen a form of social problem solving in that it is necessary in resolving conflict within to help direct it along the path that management has set down to reach an organizations goal making leadership and management necessary for an organization to achieve its goal (DeChurch et al.,2011, p. 153). But this is only half what defines the necessity of both aspect within an organization. It is also necessary to consider the views of time that each aspect takes. That management has its eye always on the bottom line, the leader has his eye on the horizon meaning management focuses on the present and leadership focuses on the future (Kearsley, 2005, p. 265). It is necessary for an organization to have both if it wants to be successful. This can be examined within the firefighter, firelighter debate within the Leadership Debate. This debate explains that management within a project takes the stance of a firefighter with regards to its problems, only facing them when they occur, where as leadership takes the firelighter approach in that they try to anticipate and prevent problems from occurring (Leadership, 2005). When looking at the two one could say the author believes the firelighter is the more desirable approach in by focusing on the future and preventing problems from occurring could increase efficiency and success, but this is only useful so far as problems can be predicted or anticipated, which in a fairly unpredictable world is generally difficult. As such it is necessary to also hold not only the leadership approach, but management approach as well because if a person fails in predicting a problem the management approach is able to account for this failure and more expediently correct the problem. A study done by the British Royal Navy in the effort to find management and leaderships effect on performance showed that leadership characteristics were more emotional in nature while managements were more im personal and focused on order and consistency to complex operations, but neither alone brought about top performers, but a blend of both were necessary for the success in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment (Young Dulewicz, 2008, p. 28). From this study it can be extrapolated that managerial and leadership approaches are counterpoints within a business. This becomes apparent when looking at organizations within a time of crisis. When examining an organization in a time of crisis one must focus on the managerial aspect, which are the operations and contingency plans, as well as the leading aspect which focuses more on people and emotion. In looking at leadership in a crisis it becomes twofold because many see a crisis as an opportunity to change; as such leadership must first stabilize the organization so they can adapt to the crisis (Heifetz, Grashow Linsky, 2009). This is contrary to the view held by management that a crisis is in fact an emergency and a company needs to make an effort to weather the burdens. In this way leadership becomes a necessity in a crisis due to its ability to cope with social pressures. In a time of crisis when an organization is forced to adapt there are many conflicting emotions within the workers. A leader has the capability to orchestrate the inevitable conflict, chaos, and confusion of change so that the disturbance is productive rather than destructive, which will enable the organization to work as a cohesive unit to further their goals (Heifetz, et al., 2009, p. 66). This is possible because those who possess leadership capabilities tend to possess emotional intelligence, which enables them to understand their own emotions and control them. As a result they can better empathize with others members of the organization (Young Dulewicz, 2008, p. 26). This helps gain loyalty and trust towards a leader, improving their ability to work towards a common goal. Despite the necessity for leadership during a crisis management is just as important as change being an adaptation of an organizations original practices rather than a complete overhaul of their practices (Heifetz, et al., 2009). A good example of this is when Best Buy changed its strategy to one established in store boutiques to better capture the female buyers interest rather than solely focusing on the male buyer in an effort to avoid a looming crisis (Heifetz, et al., 2009). They were effective beca use despite a drastic change the majority of the overall business scheme was left intact and the manager who put this ups the ability to effectively convince others that it was necessary and gains their support to follow through. However, not all change occurs in time to prevent a crisis. In such instances an organized plan, which is constantly monitored for flaws, is necessary to ensure transitional ease throughout this period of adaptation. This is the idea of a contingency plan; which can only be successful through the application of skilled management. Contingency plans are necessary during a crisis because that occasion is usually characterized by complexity and dynamism (Elliott, 2002, p. 146). This complexity makes it difficult to enact change unless an organization has made preparation in case of troubles to lessen the affect felt by the crisis and to support these changes throughout the crisis. This explains the necessity for a systematic approach for dealing with real crises so that the organization continues to function normally in most of its operations (Keefe Darling, 2005, p. 49). In order to achieve this goal it is necessary to have administrative skills, which can only exist within good management skills. Also due to necessity of a flexible nature of a contingency plan they must be constantly updated to account for a changing environment (Mitome, Speere Swift, 2001). This requires someone to constantly monitor the plan to ensure it is up to date and / or make effective changes and adaptations to the plan as required a nd communicate them to the organization without interfering in daily operational activities. As has already been stated leadership is useful for social interaction and decisiveness, through the use of innovation. As such it is lacking in the necessary qualities to set up and maintain a contingency plan. However contingency plans are not solely managerial functions. Two problems found within an organizations contingency plan require the additional support of leadership abilities in order to fix. The first was because the chaotic environment and unpredictability of a crisis made it very difficult to build a contingency plan that could cover every eventuality. Resulting in necessity to keep the plan flexible so that it is possible, no matter the situation, a plan could be adapted to suit whatever need (Mitome et al., 2001). This flexibility makes leadership necessary so that in the case of crisis the organization can be decisive in its adjustments, thus decreasing the time of adaptation. As has already been stated leaders are pathfinders (Hodgson, 1987, p. 13). So during a time of crisis when things are unknown it is up to a leader to see the solutions and managers to follow that solution they are give. This would hopefully enable an organization to return to normal business practices in a timely manner. The other problem is in how contingency plans are used during a time of crisis. It is common for organization to use small teams to find a solution for their problem because, generally, they outperform individuals (Elliott, 2002, p. 148). This makes it necessary to have a leader who can unify the team to a common goal and improve the coherence of team members to quicken the development of a solution. Without a leader to coalesce the efforts of management in a directed problem solving approach any answer might be delayed and result in a sub-optimal conclusion. It becomes quite apparent the necessity for both leadership and management are necessary within a crisis situation because they must develop next practices while excelling at todays best practices (Heifetz, et al., 2009, p.65). In other words management is important because it can help prepare for crisis helping to minimize the damage it causes and through the continuation of normal practices so that the organization still has the ability to develop next generation practices. The importance of management and leadership in a time of crisis can be seen by the failure in relief distribution in the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake which resulted because of the lack of a contingency plan that took into account the conflicts that could arise between various authorities and agencies and determine ways to prevent them. This still might have been prevented, but if not for the lack of leadership within the organization which failed to come to an agreement (Piotrowski, 2010). This shows that b oth a strong contingency plan and leadership abilities is needed because if the contingency plan is strong everything is planned and little can go wrong, but in the case that it fails leadership can minimize the damage. It has become clear of the necessity for both management and leadership. The comparison between a leader being a pathfinder and management being a path follower is in part true (Hodgson, 1987). But managements do not merely follow a path they reinforce it and improve its foundation enabling leadership to continue to grow. Their relationship is similar to that of a building. Leadership goes up, while management builds within. If a company was devoid of effective leadership it may not be able to maintain a competitive position within the market place through the effective identification and development of plans, strategies, tactics and business acumen to target positive results. And, without effective management a leaders vision, ideas, and direction may not be sustainable which might limit a businesses long term competitive position and success. The reason being that leadership is within focus of people while management is the focus administrative duties. An organization needs both le adership and management to be effective just like Yin and Yang to provide balance to the ongoing performance within an organization. While leadership provides vision, resources, and communication management provides execution identifies challenges and opportunities and communicates both throughout the company, and back-up to the leaders who can in fact adapt plans and direction continuously for success.

Mark Twain/ Huck Finn Essay -- essays research papers

In Mark Twains’ books he relates himself to a characters by giving them some of his personal life and history. In the book The Adventures of Huck Finn, Mark Twain relates the most to the main character of Huck Finn. Mark Twain and the character Huck Finn have similarities in their lives, such as, Twain placing Huck on the river he grew up on, having Huck not be specific with his religious beliefs, and never staying in the same place for long.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main thing that stood out in the book was that the story always happened around the river. Huck would go away from the river for a while but would always end up coming back to it a short time later. It was the same way with Mark Twain, whose real name is Samuel Langhorne Clemens. â€Å"Mark Twain† is a river man's term for water that was just barely safe for navigation (Kaplan). He was only four years old when his family moved to Hannibal, a small town in Marion County on the west bank of the Mississippi River. There Clemens spent his boyhood, amazed by the romance and shocked by the violence of the river life, with the steamboats, keelboats, and giant lumber rafts, as well as by the people who washed up by the river, the professional gamblers and confidence men. Near the river, the men were fierce and had little cares. It was no place for a young boy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Further from the banks of the Mississippi was Hannibal. Hannibal was a fine place to raise children. There were many places to go with fun things for young boys to do. Twain let his imagination go when he went to places like Holliday’s Hill and the caves close to the summit, where he may have played pirates just like Huck. A close friend of Clemens was Tom Blankenship, the son of the village drunkard, who was to be immortalized years later as Huck’s friend Tom Sawyer (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer). Tom Sawyer is Huck Finn’s best friend in the book. Tom freely invents lies and loves adventure, just as Tom Blankenship did.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Clemens was just a young boy he saw death on the river and in his owns home. One of his sisters died when he was four years old, and his brother died three years later when he was seven years old (Encyclopedia Britannica). After the death of Samuel Clemens’ father, it became necessary for him to contribute to supporting his family. He worked so hard that he bu... ...g. So Clemens rode the Mississippi for almost four years, and he remembered these years as the most carefree of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The river is the main focus of the book. They never seem to stay away from it for very long. Even with all the bad stuff going on at the river, it seems to be the only place that Clemens and Huck can find peace. The river even takes his evil father away from him for good. Through spending so much time with Jim, and all the experiences on the river, Huck reveals a strong sense of humanity (â€Å"Huck Finn Notesâ€Å"). He showed this when he did everything he could to save the two murderers who fell off of the ship. Huck will always do everything that he can to help a person if they need it. Huck is a very clever character who always thinks his plans out, unlike Tom who just acts upon an idea.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Clemens seems to use his childhood experiences to write this book. To represent his self as a child he uses Huck and lets him live out all of his childhood adventures. Twain and Finn are similar because they both grew up on the river, have no specific religious beliefs, and they never stay in one place for a long time.

Essay --

This paper with address the major themes, which run throughout The Holy Bible. There are too many themes throughout the Bible to list so this author will address only three major themes that are see in God’s Holy Word. The first theme is Jesus; the beginning and the end, the Alpha and Omega. Colossians 1:17 from the New Living Translation says it best: He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. The second theme that is seen in the Bible is love. The Bible says in 1 John 4:8 that God is Love; But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. We see this in the greatest commandment. The last theme, which is clearly seen in nearly every book of the Bible, is the theme of salvation and/or redemption. God the Father is not only seen saving those who call on His name from certain death in the Old Testament, but also in the New Testament. In theology redemption and salvation are one in the same. â€Å"Theology is the deliverance from the power and penalty of sin; redemption† (Dictionarry.com, 2013). Jesus The first theme is Jesus. We see the prophecies of Jesus’ first and second coming in the Old Testament and then we see in the New Testament the life and teachings of the Son of God. â€Å"Then he said, ‘When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled’† (Luke ... ...st through the reading of God’s Word start to understand out to look through the lens of God for our lives and others. This shows us we are in need of a relationship and not a religion. The Bible teaches us and shows us we need not to get cleaned up to come to Jesus, but come to Jesus and the Cross to get cleaned up. His arms are always wide open. C.S. Lewis once said, â€Å"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us† (Patheos.com, 2013). â€Å"‘This is basically what C.S. Lewis was saying. God made us good only through the atoning work of Calvary. We became righteous because of His love that was most vividly displayed on the cross as John wrote, ‘In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins’† (1 John 4:10) (Patheos.com, 2013).

Native Americans in the United States Essay

The Navajo’s land was very precious. They lived in a huge expanse of land. They lived in large chunks of Utah and Arizona. They also inhabited small parts of Colorado and New Mexico. They had a similar climate all year around. The climate was arid to semi-arid. They had very hot summers and very cold winters. The annual precipitation for most of their land was less than 10 inches of rain. The average temperature range was 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. They also had natural resources. They had coal, uranium, oil, natural gas, minerals, petroleum, agriculture, and herbs. ? LAKE NAVAJO ? FOOD: The Navajos had various amounts of food. They grew corn, beans, squash and melons. They hunted and ate Kaibab squirrels, black tailed jack rabbits, small pigs, peccary, horses, buffalo and sheep. They baked kneel down bread, Navajo cake, Navajo pancakes, blue â€Å"dumplings†, blue bread, hominy cookies, and squash blossoms stuffed with blue corn mush and pinon leaves. They also steamed and roasted corn. They harvested wild fruits and vegetables such as pinon nuts, corn silk, wild berries, wild onion, Navajo spinach (bee weed and pig weed), wolf â€Å"berry†, wax currant, sumac grapes, juniper oranges, yucca bananas, and Navajo tea (telesperma). They also traded for deer, squash seeds, tumble mustard seeds, pinto beans, goat, goat milk, and goat cheese. In special occasions they would have wild edible clay, wild potatoes, mimosa, sagebrush, and juniper ash. ? NAVAJO PANCAKES ? SHELTER: The Navajos had different homes than other native tribes. They lived in small clusters of families spread around. There’re 2 types of hogans (what they lived in), the winter type and the summer type. The winter hogan was more closed and padded for the cold but; the summer hogan was more open and less padded for the heat. They were both miserable and crude structures. The reason for them living in such poorly built homes was because they were nomads (so they could easily leave in a moments notice). They considered the outdoors as home. They used there â€Å"house† for storage, warmth and sleep. They said they wouldn’t get attached to their â€Å"homes† like white men (Americans). Hogans were round â€Å"houses† built with sticks, packed with earth and covered with brush, animal hides and whatever else they could find or was available. The front door always faced east to catch first light. They later built more advanced and bigger hogans made out of logs from pinon trees, and mud. ? NAVAJO HOGAN ? CLIMATE/ GEOGRAPHY INFLUENCE: The Navajo’s climate and geography affected them. Geography caused them not to have the same food or clothing in all parts of the Navajo land because some stuff didn’t grow everywhere and, the terrain made them wear different clothing according to altitude weather. Climate caused them not to have the same food, clothing or shelter all year around either. Some stuff could only be found a certain season. In the winter they had to wear more layers but, as for in the summer they would wear less, and like a said before (read shelter) there was a winter hogan and a summer hogan. ? CLASSIC TERRAIN ? LOCATION OF HOMES: ? NAVAJO’S CURRENT HOME ? NAVAJO’S ANCESTRAL HOME ? BIBLIOGRAPHY: Carey, Harold Jr. â€Å"Navajo People† Donald Snyder. (July 29, 2011) Outskirts Press. October 28, 2011 Donn, Andale. â€Å"Native Americans† Phillip Martin. (2007) October 27, 2011 Eck, Pam. â€Å"In Kido Indianans† Diane Dwenger. (April 22, 1998) October 28, 2011 Erdoes, Richard. â€Å"The Native Americans: Navajos† Sterling Pub. Co : New York; 1978: 15, 21, 12 James, Cullen. â€Å"Veterans Recall† Navajo Times; #24, October 29, 2011. 1,2 Kallen, Stuart A. â€Å" Native Americans of The Southwest† Lucent Books: San Diego; 2000: 12, 1, 11 Knysh, Brian. â€Å"Kid Port† Elizabeth Flynn. (1998) October 27, 2011 Lewis, Orrin, â€Å"Big Orrin† Laura Redish. (1998) October 27, 2011 Rossi, Ann. â€Å" Native Americans of The Southwest† Benchmark Education: Pelham; 2008: 16, 32, 10 Miller, Gay‘s 5th and 6th grade students. â€Å"Navajo. † Miller Gay. (October 23,2011) October 27, 20011 Yurth, Cindy. â€Å"Budding Filmmakers Debut† U. S. A Department of Defense; #3 October 29, 2011. 1,2 ? FUN FACTS: They Call them selves the â€Å"Dine† (the people) They drew petroglyphs Their reservation size is about 13 million acres (the largest in the U. S) They also have the largest membership size compared to other Native Americans membership’s size. (They allow up to 30 people from their extended family into the reservation. ) ? EXTRA: ? NAVAJO BOW & ARROW ? NAVAJO POTTERY ? NAVAJO PAINTING ? NAVAJO TOMAHAWK.

Encountering Conflict Sample Essay Essay

Prompt: It is the victims of conflict who show us what is really important When encountering conflict, victims usually do tend to display what our priorities are. But what is considered to be ‘really important’? Morals and ethics could be considered essential when encountering conflict as they allow us to solve a conflict by ‘doing the right thing’. This can include showing attributes such as honesty and justice. For the most part, victims of conflict show us what is morally right and just by their actions. However, there are some exceptions to this. There at times when victims of conflict can be influenced by others to divert from what is truly important, and directed to obtaining gratification instead. Furthermore, those who initiate the conflict tend to have different priorities, quite distinct from what we may consider important, and so they tend to not display what is ‘really important’ in the eyes of others. Victims of conflict can show us how morals and ethics are what is important. A clear example of this in history can be seen by the actions of African-American woman, Rosa Parkes. On Thursday, December 1, 1955, Parks was sitting in the front-most row for black people. When a Caucasian man boarded the bus, the bus driver told everyone in her row to move back to create a new row for the whites. While all of the other black people in her row complied, Parks refused, and was arrested for failing to obey the driver’s seat assignments, as city ordinances did not explicitly mandate segregation but did give the bus driver authority to assign seats. Found guilty on December 5 Parks was fined $10 plus a court cost of $4, but she appealed. Her brave actions however showed the world how justice and equality is important and morally right. Rosa Parks changed the way America discriminated against the blacks and is now considered one of the pioneers of the civil rights movement. Other factors of morals and ethics which are considered ‘important’ by most can include honesty and righteousness when encountering conflict. This is clearly portrayed in the film â€Å"A Separation† by Asghar Farhadi. The film is involved around a conflict between the families of Nader and Hodjat. When both families are at court trying to seek justice, the victims of the  conflict could be considered to be the children, who were being affected by the struggle but had no direct involvement in it. When questioned by the judge, both families distorted the truth, or simply lied in order to win the dispute. Termeh, the eleven year-old daughter of Nader however, portrays what was truly important at the time. When Termeh is swayed to lie in court in order to protect her father, she is shown crying in the film. This inner struggle within her shows us that what was truly important was to tell the truth in order to solve the conflict. Her lying in court only exacerbated the situation even further, thus demonstrating how a victim of conflict although influenced to do the wrong thing, did show us what is truly important. Additionally, Termeh is shown multiple times in the film, questioning her father of whether or not he was telling the truth about the murder of Razieh’s baby. Her moral values of honesty and integrity eventually cause Nader to confess the truth. This again is another example of a victim of conflict, showing us what is really important. It could be said that only the victims of conflict show us what is really important. This is because those who benefit from or initiate conflict often have priorities quite distinct from what we might consider important – thus they don’t show us what is truly important. In the film â€Å"A Separation†, both Nader and Razieh constantly lie in court in order to save themselves from justice. Nader is shown to say he did not push Razieh out of his house, and Razieh is shown multiple times saying Nader caused the death of her unborn baby. In their mind, what is important is to save themselves from being punished due to their wrong doings. What is truly important however, is justice and morals. Because both these individuals commenced the conflict, they do not show us what is ‘really important’. IT is true that victims of conflict can show us what is important. However, although they can, it does not mean they always do. Victims of conflict can be influenced by the more powerful to do the wrong thing and thus be directed away from seeking what is important. In the film â€Å"A Separation†, Termeh, a victim of conflict, although wanting to do the right thing, is influenced by her father’s wrong actions and thus is almost ‘forced’ into lying in order to protect Nader from his wrong doings. Although Termeh seeks to be honest, there at times when victims are influenced and as a result,  they simply divert from showing us what is really important. In general, although with some exceptions, victims of conflict tend to show us what is important by standing up or simply seeking morals and ethics when encountering conflict. This can be seen by the real-life example of Rosa Parkes, a woman who seeked justice and equality. Additionally, it can be seen in multiple scenes in the film ‘A Separation’, where the children (the victims) show us that morals and ethical behaviour is what is truly important at all times.